Penalty point hotspots reveal Britain’s worst drivers

Matt Allan

Halifax is home to Britain’s worst drivers, according to the latest data from the Department for Transport.

The West Yorkshire town has the highest proportion of motorists with penalty points on their licence, with almost one in 10 drivers holding endorsements.

However, London has the most drivers with a licence-threatening 12 points or more and East Sussex is home to the country’s worst offender who, somehow, has racked up 60 points on his licence.

The data was obtained by Vantage Leasing, which broke down licence endorsement figures to find where in the country you’re most likely to encounter a driver with penalty points.

The north of England took the top three spots on the list of shame. Of the 111,820 licence holders in the HX postal area, 9.62 per cent had at least one penalty points. In second place Bradford (BD) 9.46 per cent of the 364,162 had an endorsement, while in the Huddersfield HD post code the figure was 9.04 per cent.

10 postcodes with highest proportion of penalty point holders

Postcode

Drivers with points

Licence holders

% with penalty points

Halifax (HX)

10,758

111,820

9.62

Bradford (BD)

34,455

364,162

9.46

Huddersfield (HD)

16,593

183,465

9.04

Bristol (BS)

61,761

719,724

8.58

Doncaster (DN)

44,786

524,470

8.54

Wakefield (WF)

29,403

350,953

8.38

Leeds (LS)

41,823

504,336

8.29

Luton (LU)

20,137

247,286

8.14

Slough (SL)

24,734

307,502

8.04

Harrogate (HG)

8,785

109,682

8.01

Canterbury (CT) has the fewest law-breaking drivers (or at least the fewest who have been caught) with 3.72 per cent with points on their licence, ahead of Lerwick (ZE), with 4.04 per cent and Tunbridge Wells (TN) with 4.16 per cent.

The DfT data shows there are 2,711,493 motorists in Great Britain with penalty points – 6.65 per cent of the total driving population. A significant number have racked up 12 points or more – the limit before drivers face a potential disqualification, and the figures include drivers currently banned from the roads.

Points stay on your licence for between four and 11 years. (Photo: Shutterstock)

London is home to 969 drivers with 12 or more points, ahead of Birmingham (393) and Peterborough (265).

A 41-year-old man from East Sussex holds the shameful record of the most active points – at 60 – while a 25-year-old from Nottingham is the worst female offender, with 48 points.

10 postcodes with lowest proportion of penalty point holders

Postcode

Drivers with points

Licence holders

% with penalty points

Canterbury (CT)

12,254

329,679

3.72

Lerwick (ZE)

659

16,330

4.04

Tunbridge Wells (TN)

22,100

531,329

4.16

Bromley (BR)

9,688

227,968

4.25

Cambridge (CB)

13,042

306,159

4.26

Truro (TR)

10,508

228,640

4.60

London

136,693

2,925,636

4.67

Exeter (EX)

19,967

425,781

4.69

Harrow (HA)

17,074

361,389

4.72

Brighton (BN)

27,990

572,329

4.89

You can be given penalty points for a wide range of offences – from speeding and using a mobile phone to driving an unroadworthy car or drink-driving. Most offences carry three penalty points but the most serious can see you handed up to 11 points at one time. Depending on the severity of the offence, points remain on your licence for four or 11 years.

Accumulating 12 or more points within a three-year period can lead to disqualification but for drivers with less than two years’ experience six points is enough to see your licence revoked and you forced to resit your test.